


Worth Suffering For

by orphan_account



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Drabbles, Fluff, IceNor, M/M, NorIce, Some other minor characters - Freeform, a few curse words, mention of USUK, mention of gerita, mention of lietpol, mention of spamano, mention of sufin, not brothers in this one so im not sure how to tag it, ooc to fit the prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-27 01:06:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7597345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You were worth suffering through those four years of torture."</p>
<p>"... You cheesy idiot."</p>
<p>Collection of NorIce drabbles in a high school setting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth Suffering For

**Author's Note:**

> All drabbles are in separate universes unless specified otherwise.

This was supposed to be a speech on overcoming failure.

Lukas watched as the new student, Emil, waved his hands at the front of the classroom, rambling about the history of licorice.

The rest of the class exchanged raised eyebrows and shrugs. Was this the correct speech?

Lukas was among them until he saw Emil’s violet eyes lit up and a light blush speckled his cheeks.

_Damn, he’s actually cute when he’s passionate,_ Lukas thought, holding back a smile.

“The reason why or when ammonium chloride and licorice were combined together is unknown, but it didn’t stop salty licorice from becoming one of the most popular candies in the Nordic regions today,” Emil finished. He stepped off the podium and returned to his seat in front of Lukas.

The class hesitated before applauding.

Lukas continued to stare at the back of Emil’s head as the next student walked to the podium.

He was saved from presenting, however, when the bell rang for lunch.

The students hurried out of the classroom and to the cafeteria.

“Your speech was well-written,” Lukas said before Emil could leave.

Emil swung his bag over his shoulder before responding. “Thanks.”

“Which brand is your favorite?”

“Appolo laces.”

“How do you feel about licorice tubes?”

The two continued their conversation all the way to the cafeteria.

“I know a shop down the corner that sells good licorice,” Emil said, “Would you like to go with me sometime?”

“You mean as a date?” Lukas asked.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous.” Emil looked away before muttering, “Yes, as a date.”

Lukas’s lips curled into a smile. “That would be lovely. I’ll meet you after school.”

The two separated to their usual tables, both anticipating the end of school.

*

Where there are restrictions on talking, there are students who will find a loophole.

While most students would pass notes or text each other under their desks, Leon and Emil chose to use Morse code.

Leon listened carefully as Emil tapped on his desk with one finger.

The rapid taps and dashes translated to: “You know Lukas, right? The one in our class right now?”

Leon tapped back, “Yeah, why?”

“You have to promise that you won’t tell this to anyone.”

“Sure. I promise.”

“We started talking maybe a few months ago, and I may or may not think he’s cute. Also, I may or may not be considering asking him out on a date. What do you think? Too early for that?”

Leon was about to tap back until he caught Lukas moving to hide his smile. Did Lukas know Morse code too?

His suspicions were confirmed when Lukas moved his stare from the math worksheet on his desk to Emil.

Oh, this was gonna be good.

Leon fought back a smirk and tapped back, “Tell me more.” He almost snickered when Emil’s fingers danced on the table for five minutes straight, detailing his crush.

Leon waited until Emil was done and tapped, “You do realize that Lukas knows Morse code, right?”

Emil’s eyes widened. He looked at Lukas, who stared back at him.

“Why didn’t you tell me? This is so embarrassing,” Emil tapped, hiding his face behind his hand.

Leon shrugged and moved to turn in his worksheet. He pretended not to hear Lukas tapping out, “You’re adorable. Go on a date with me?”

But he would forever hold Emil's response over his head.

“Yes.”

*

World Academy was practically known for its bets on when two students would end up dating each other.

Every week, the money buckets were full of loose change and one dollar bills, each labeled with specific dates and months. Students would attach their names on their bet, usually with a paperclip. Those who predicted accurately received a split of all the money that had been put into every bucket. Needless to say, it was  _very_ popular among students and teachers alike.

Emil didn’t mind the bets. In fact, he had earned a little bit of money predicting when Arthur would finally man up and ask Alfred out.

While most students didn’t think twice when betting, some of the more critical students speculated on the ringleader of the weekly bet, who was said to be the person who came up with the couples.

The first two targets were Feliks and Toris, whose buckets looked like it would have been enough to cure the world of debt. They had gotten together in only a few days after the bet started.

Ludwig and Feliciano were a bit tougher to bring together, though they ended up dating a few weeks after.

The third couple, Lovino and Antonio, made a few people scratch their heads. The buckets were nearly empty. However, they had eventually confessed, leading to the ringleader's reputation of the untouchable cupid.

According to one of the seniors, the ringleader had never been wrong in choosing any couple.

That was why Emil was shivered when he saw himself and Lukas as the weekly bet.

He looked around the crowd of students around him. How did anyone know about his crush?

Emil took a few coins out of his pocket and dropped it in the "never" bucket before rushing out of the crowd.

Some time after Emil dropped his coins, the bucket’s contents had gone from nearly empty to overflowing.

Lukas raised an eyebrow at the overflowing bucket. Was his crush that obvious?

Despite the box about to tip over, Lukas dropped in a coin in the "today" bucket and began to search for Emil.

If he was going to confess, he might as well get some money out of it.

*

Emil’s math grade did _not_ make him happy.

He scrolled through the gradebook on his phone, cringing at every failed or missed assignment. Why did the school put him in the gifted program in the first place?

But at this point, he would have to be held back a year, and his friends would never let him forget about that.

The next test was tomorrow, and he had no idea what the subject matter was.

Emil sighed and gathered his pride before texting his friends for help.

A few minutes later, he received his responses.

Michelle and Leon had snuck their phones into a band rehearsal and weren’t available at the moment.

Tino and Berwald’s anniversary was today and interrupting them was just rude.

Mikkel and Sadik were already busy with the stack of homework they had neglected.

And Ivan… Emil just couldn’t bring himself to trust Ivan.

That left one person in his contacts: Lukas.

Emil cringed. They weren’t that close, distant friends at best.

But Emil didn’t have any other choices. He picked up his phone and texted Lukas.

A few minutes later, the two met up at a nearby library.

Lukas set a math textbook on their shared table. “You said you needed help on trigonometry, yes?”

“Yes.” Emil took the seat across from him.

Lukas flipped to the trigonometry section of the textbook. “So trigonometry is mostly used for finding the unknown sides and angles of triangles. For that, you’ll need to know what sine, cosine, and tangent are. Follow along.”

The lesson went on for hours as Emil slowly understood the subject.

It was close to midnight by the time the study session ended.

The two packed up their materials.

“Thanks for saving my math grade. What do you want in return?” Emil asked.

“Smile.”

“What? Why would you want my smile?”

“Because it's beautiful. It's a shame you don't smile more.”

Emil smiled, crossing his arms. “You cheesy little shit.”

Lukas smiled back. “Aren’t you the little one here?”

“Hey!”

The two exited the library, walking down the street together.

Their smiles never disappeared.

*

 

“Did you seriously forget to pay the bills again? What’s wrong with you?”

“You know what, fuck you. I don’t need to explain myself.”

“Who are you? You’re not the man I married. You’re just a monster who took his place. Give him back!”

“Stop trying to change me!”

Tears sprung in Emil’s eyes as he heard his parents argue from downstairs. They used to be so happy together. What happened?

Crash!

Emil yelped at the sound of glass crashing on the floor.

His parents hushed at the yelp, bringing their volume down to a whisper.

Emil wiped his tears away before picking up his viola and jumping down the window. He ran to the school’s orchestra room. His true home was here.

Emil opened the orchestra room door, only to see someone else already there, crying.

The person didn’t seem to notice him yet.

“Lukas? What happened?” Emil asked.

Lukas looked back at him with puffy eyes and flushed cheeks. “Nothing happened. I’m fine.”

“No, tell me. I want to help you.”

“… My parents keep arguing. They'll be talking about what to get for dinner one moment and be throwing things the next.”

Emil sat down next to him. “Same. I know how you feel.”

The two stayed in silence before Emil shuffled to take out a duet for violin and viola. “Would you like to play this with me?”

Lukas wiped away the last of his tears before nodding and picking up his violin.

No tears were shed again that night.

*

Lukas flipped through the high school yearbook with a ghost of a smile on his face. He stopped on a picture of him and his lover in the cafeteria. “Emil, come look at this.”

Emil sat next to him on the couch and cringed at the picture. “You’re looking back at high school? Aren’t you glad to finally be out of that hellhole?”

“Yes, but isn’t that how I met you?”

“Could you have at least picked a better picture?”

The yearbook held the image of Lukas putting an arm around Emil with a blank stare at the camera while Emil struggled to get his arm off, glaring.

Lukas smirked. “I’m keeping this forever.”

“No way! Give it.”

“You’ll have to reach for it.” Lukas stood up and held the yearbook over his head.

Emil stood on his toes, reaching for it. “This isn’t fair. You’re still the taller one.”

Lukas chuckled and kissed Emil on the cheek. “We’ll keep the picture.”

“Doesn’t it bring up bad memories?”

“It doesn’t matter. You were worth suffering through those four years of torture.”

“… You cheesy idiot.”


End file.
